Overseas seller ws_toys has come through with another early Rise of COBRA action figure auction, this time for a COBRA Neo-Viper. The price stands at $14.99, and you can see the auction here, or if you’re just interested in the pictures, click on the thumbnails below.
I’m really interested to hear the fandom’s thoughts on this figure. I know, by and large, the movie stuff has been getting panned, but I think as long as you’re not tied to nostalgia there are some things to appreciate. I really love the skull-themed face mask, personally. For folks like me, not married to the red/black scarf and helmet, there are some pretty neat “future tech” elements at play here. Sure, this isn’t like your garden variety straight from the 80’s COBRA Trooper, but let’s not forget ever since 2000, G.I. Joe has been “evolving”, and as the next step in evolution, I think these troopers have at least some merit. The layered armor, the fearsome appearence, and the state-of-the-art weaponry are all pretty cool, I think, even if they’re not at all reminiscent of the tried and true COBRA Troopers or Vipers. I’m actually looking forward to seeing how these guys look on screen. But something tells me I’m in the minority…
I’ve loved this and the other Cobra trooper figure we’ve seen from the moment pictures first surfaced. I grew up in the 90s, so I didn’t even originally know about Cobra Troopers or Vipers until 1998 when I found YoJoe.com, so I was never really that big on the 1982 Trooper look. I’ve always liked the more modern looks as opposed to the militia look, and this figure is no exception. Infact, I almost want to drop the $15 just to get that figure into my collection sooner.
Personally, I like the two movie Viper toys we’ve seen so far.
Not necessarily as disposable troopers, mind you, as they lack the look of extendability… but as some kind of Cobra elite, akin to the Plague, they work pretty well, visually.
I like that they both have backpack gimmicks, in so much as the Neo-Viper can store both his rifles on his backback, and that the Viper Commando has that neat crank winch on his that will let you ‘wind’ him up a wall Batman style.
Personally, I like the two movie Viper toys we’ve seen so far.
Not necessarily as disposable troopers, mind you, as they lack the look of extendability… but as some kind of Cobra elite, akin to the Plague, they work pretty well, visually.
I like that they both have backpack gimmicks, in so much as the Neo-Viper can store both his rifles on his backback, and that the Viper Commando has that neat crank winch on his that will let you ‘wind’ him up a wall Batman style.
This new picture gives me hope that the Neo-Viper will acutally be able to use both handles on the rifle with the foregrip; before now I was convinced the butt was too long to allow for any kind of firing pose with both grips in use, but now I’m not as sure.
They’re growing on me. Granted, I’m not hard to please, and I wasn’t against them initially, but I’m liking them more and more.
I definitely think Destro had his hand in creating this armor. The guy knows how to work metal masks, so I could definitely see him passing this tech on to his loyal customer/ally. I’m looking forward to seeing them in hand!
Yeah, there’s nothing I don’t like about this guy! As usual, the grunts always get the best stuff. I’m also impressed that they are doing some stuff that I thought should have been done YEARS ago, like getting rid of the trigger guard. On top of that, I’m so glad they are brining back things like the weapons attaching to the backpack! I’m sick of the backpack just being something that is…well, you know…on the back. It doesn’t do anything else, and I’d often just leave it out if it didn’t do anything.
Bascially, I’m glad they are back to selling these to kids! They get all the neat stuff.